It All Comes Out in the Wash
January 7, 2020
You ever just decide to hit the streets with your camera in search of some good frames? No? Just me?? Okay… Well, lately I’ve been coming home empty-handed. It’s like I’m battling this creative block where I just can’t get the right shot, or at least none of the photos I take resonate with me the way I want them to. And rather than go into all the details about my creative block and the struggle therein (I’ve rewritten this opening paragraph at least five times…), suffice it to say I got over it - at least for a day - in the simplest way imaginable.
It was a weekend like any other. Candice and I were dividing and conquering our household responsibilities; she was grocery shopping while I made my way through several loads of laundry. While putting another load in the washing machine, I started wondering what kind of shots I could get in our musty laundry room. Much to my pleasure and surprise, I wound up with a few I really liked!!
This first one was shot with the Canon 100mm f/2.8L Macro lens. I have somewhat of a love/hate relationship with this lens. It takes beautiful photos, but its depth of field is so shallow at just about any aperture that it can be very unforgiving if your focus isn’t dead on. Think about how close together the quarters are, and then look at how suddenly focus falls off as your eye moves across the photo from left to right. This photo could have turned out poorly with just the slightest move in the wrong direction, but luck was on my side here!
For this one, I used the Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L and put the camera in the barrel of the washing machine, facing back at me. Even at a focal length of 16mm, it wasn’t as wide as I had hoped. Before taking the photo, I envisioned seeing the holes in the barrel of the machine. I thought they would provide cool texture, maybe some lines leading towards the center of the frame. Even though it didn’t turn out how I had pictured, I was thrilled to check the display and see this one. I love how my face is just slightly out of focus, and how the center column of the machine is just obscuring my face. And those concentric white and black rings that line up perfectly!!
Above all else, I like these photos because they present a mundane task in an interesting way. Everyone does laundry, and unless you’re some kind of weirdo the task doesn’t likely conjure feelings of excitement in you. But have you ever wondered what your clothes see, looking back up at you before you close the lid and send them on a wild ride to cleanliness and fresh smells? Well… this is it. Pretty cool, huh??